1910: la genesi
In 1910 a company named Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica di Automobili
(A.L.F.A.) was estiblished in Portello, where it arose from the ashes of
the Società Italiana Automobili Darracq. The A.L.F.A. company soon
understood that racing was the best way to test (and display) reliability of
their products and started to develop purpose build cars for motorsports.
By the time A.L.F.A. won at Mugello in 1920 and 1921, Napolitan
entrepeneur Nicola Romeo took over the company, and "Alfa Romeo"
was born. ... Gallery >>>
RL: il primo capolavoro
The company of Alfa Romeo became a real industrial production unit
when the 3 litre 6-cylinder "RL" was introduced. A total of 2640 units
(remember, we're talking 1926 here) of the RL were produced in many
different variants. The Museo Storico houses a Castagna bodied variant,
build for an Indian Maharajah, the RL Super Sport by Zagato that came
fourth overall in the 1927 Mille Miglia, another Zagato that won the 1926
German Grand Prix and two other RL versions which were raced in the
Targa Florio in 1923 and 1924. ... Gallery >>>
L'epoca d'oro
In 1923 the talented designer Vittorio Jano joined Alfa Romeo and his
first creation was the legendary "P2" that brought Alfa Romeo the first
World Championship title and laid the foundations for the legend. The
Museo Storico houses several of the 1500 and 1750 cc 6-cylinders
among them the Super Sport driven to victory by Campari - Ramponi in
the 1929 Mille Miglia or the 1930 Gran Sport, driven by Tazio Nuvolari in
the thousand miles the year after. Another important racing car on
display is the 8C-2300 Monza, also designed by Jano, that came first
and second in the 1931 Italian Grand Prix. The legendary 8C-2300 also
won Le Mans in that same year and in 1934. ... Gallery >>>
Le più veloce del mondo
Derived from the P3, the "fastest and most beautiful sportscar in the
world" was born in the 8C 2900. A car unrivalled both on road and track,
which took for instance the first 3 places in the 1938 Mille Miglia. Another
car, with a lightweight Touring body, is also on display in the Museo
Storico. Biondetti and Sommer had built up a lead of a mere 160
kilometers when a broken valve put them out of the race. ... Gallery >>>
Prima e dopo la guerra
The 6C 2500 is both the last pre-war and the first post-war Alfa Romeo.
The Museo Storico houses the Touring bodied 6C 2500 Super Sport
Corsa that finished second overall in the 1940 Mille Miglia and several
other variants, amongst them the gorgeous Villa d'Este, so called after
winning the prestigeous concours d'elegance at Lake Como. ... Gallery
>>>
Verso l'industrializzazione
In the early Fifties, car builders needed to make more functional and
less luxurious cars to meet market demads. But Alfa Romeo did not
want to give up its image as a producer of prestige sports cars and
designed the "1900", a reasonable priced 4-cylinder platform that offered
Alfa-style sporty performance. The Museo Storico houses several
examples built on the 1900 platform, ranging from the AR 51 (Matta), an
Alfa Romeo interpretation of a military jeep that nevertheless took part in
the 1952 Mille Miglia to the absolutely stunning "Disco Volante" (Flying
Saucer) spyder. ... Gallery >>>
L'epoca della Giulietta
The Giulietta was the first platform specifically built for the mass market
and the first car with a "name" rather than a "number". The Museo
Storico houses several examples from the Bertone designed spider,
through a Berlina by Bertone, a Pininfarina designed spider to a race-
bred Zagato SZ. ... Gallery >>>
Le Giulia da corsa
The Museo Storico in Arese houses several examples of the competition
Giulias from the Sixties. The "TZ" developed in collaboration with Zagato
scored class wins in the Sebring 12 Hours, the Targa Florio, the
Nürburgring 1000km, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Tour de France
Automobile. The successor, the "TZ 2" was developed directly by
Autodelta (Alfa Romeo's racing division) and featured a fibreglass body
over its tubular frame. ... Gallery >>>
Campioni del Mondo
The history of Alfa Romeo's involvement in motorsports list three great
Grand Prix cars which won the World Championship. The first car to win
this title was the P2 designed by Vittorio Jano and driven by great names
like Antonio Ascari, Giuseppe Campari and Gastone Brilli-Perri. The P2
had a supercharged 8-cylinder in line engine, was introduced in 1924
and took the World Title in 1925.
In 1932 Jano produced the Type B, or P3, which is considered by many
to be one of the most beautiful Grand Prix cars ever built. It was raced by
the greatest drivers of the day: Tazio Nuvolari, Varzi, Caracciola and
Borzacchini.
In 1938 it was Gioachino Colombo that designed the car known as
"158". While the car already took its first wins before the war, the first
World Championship title was won in 1950 by Nino Farina. A year later,
Juan-Manuel Fangio drove an improved version of the car, the "159" to
victory in 1951 World Championship. ... Gallery >>>
Nate per vincere
The lowest floor of the Museo Storico houses the most recent race
history of Alfa Romeo. Beside a cross section of DTM versions of the Alfa
75, 155 and 156, a selection of Indycar, Formula 3 and Formula 1
racers, there is a range of Sports Prototypes on display. Alfa Romeo 33's
Sports Prototypes were entered from 1967 throughout 1977 and have
scored a brilliant one-two in the Daytona 24 Hours in 1968. In 1975 Alfa
won 7 out of 8 races in the World Constructors' Championship with the
brand new 12-cylinder boxer engine. The "33 SC 12" also on display in
Arese, won the 1977 Championship, this time by winning 8 out of 8
races.
A interesting example on display is the Scaglione designed roadgoing
version of the Alfa Romeo 33, of which online 18 were built. Truly unique
is the Bertone designed one-off coupé, called "Montreal Expo". ... Gallery
>>>
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